I lived in a time when you could have an electric motor repaired rather than replaced. Dad would pop out all of the tubes from the TV and I could trek down to the drugstore and find the marginal ones.

Watch out!! You will get “moderated” by questioning Obama’s “change”. Progressive thought has now become as locked down as Conservative, except then it is not Progressive anymore.

BTW, I grew up in Truman’s time, had 78s of Tommy Dorsey, remember Bill Haley and The Comets before “Rock Around The Clock”, 19 cents a gallon gas, Egg Cremes, collected comics, watched Light’s Out on a 12″ Philco TV, and saw my dad throw his shoe at the TV when McCarthy came on.

Iraq was a vile business venture, using the richest source of funding…. not oil, the U.S. government.

We can debate punishing Saudi Arabia for 9/11 vs. nobody wins wars, because we aren’t there as the opponent. We already are in Afghanistan, just not doing well and it compromises the troops there.

In your own words:

“We all know that he’s already said he wants to expand the GWOT in Afghanistan.We all know that he’s already said he wants to expand the GWOT in Afghanistan.”

O.K. no change of plan here!

Next sentence:

“Taking troops out of Iraq, only to send ‘em on an increasingly dangerous and foolish enterprise in Afghanistan (or worse, on foolhearty missions into Pakistan) does not “bring them home,” which was a clear implication of Obama’s non-pledge to ‘end the war.’”

Did your mean ‘foolhardy’? ‘Foolhearty’ is not in my fractured dictionary!

Obama only said that he was going to end the war in Iraq in order to finish what W had started in Afghanistan. The only person to pursue “a foolish enterprise in Afghanistan” was our dear W. He started to dismantle the forces there in September 1992 in order to move them to Kuwait for the Iraqi invasion and occupation before the job was finished in Afghanistan.

First, there’s the remarkably disingenuous qualification regarding the troops to be withdrawn: all “combat” troops. Presumably that means striker brigades and the like. It takes NO account of the numbers of ‘contractors’ who’ll still be boots on the ground. Nor does it count the numbers of troops who’ll be left behind guarding, maintaining and flying the aricraft on those ‘temporary bases.’

and then there’s the matter that 16 months is as far off as 16 years, when the issue is security and stability in a war-zone. Not only could conditions in Iraq deteriorate in mere minutes, but new crises (think Mumbai, only in Tel Aviv; now THERE’D be a shitstorm) will certainly intrude.

Then what does “out of Iraq” mean?

We all know that he’s already said he wants to expand the GWOT in Afghanistan. Taking troops out of Iraq, only to send ‘em on an increasingly dangerous and foolish enterprise in Afghanistan (or worse, on foolhearty missions into Pakistan) does not “bring them home,” which was a clear implication of Obama’s non-pledge to ‘end the war.’

Do us all a favor and take it to the continental shelf, wear cement boots, and leave the life preserver at home.

http://littlegreenfootballs2.com/2008/12/02/think-progress-bashes-catholic-church-over-opposition-to-gay-marriage/

Obama is the One

Bush is a zero

Obama 1

Bush 0

I only hope that we are mentally prepared for the upswing in sectarian violence that will occur when we do leave. It is inevitable given the Sunni, Shia and Kurd divisions in the country that are overlayed by militia and other dimensions as well.

Hopefully, we will recognize that we never should have invaded Iraq in the first place and we will resist getting re-entangled in their civil war after we depart.

And to the wise-ass who asked about teleportation: stop being stupid.